1. Field of the Technology
The technology presented herein relates to a storage medium storing a game program to be executed by a computer of a game apparatus for executing a player-versus-player game, and particularly to a storage medium storing a game program to be executed by a computer of a game apparatus for executing a player-versus-player board game in which players, playing against each other, alternately place predetermined panels on a predetermined game field.
2. Description of the Background Art
There is a known conventional player-versus-player puzzle game. For example, there is a disclosed player-versus-player game in which players, playing against each other, alternately place pieces on vacant equilateral triangles in a figure fully covered with equilateral triangles, and a player, who has successfully formed an equilateral triangle from four equilateral triangles each having the player's piece placed thereon, becomes a winner (e.g., Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 9-290041).
There is another type of disclosed puzzle game in which: a board, on which a plurality of blocks each comprising a plurality of squares are provided in a grid pattern, is displayed; when a player places a piece on a square, a state of a block containing the square on which the piece is placed changes; and it is detected whether a predetermined number of consecutive blocks, which are in a same state or which are determined to be in a same state, have formed a vertical, horizontal or a diagonal line (for example, Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2000-342847). In this game, two players alternately place, on squares, two types of pieces, i.e., a piece 1 (blue) and a piece 2 (red), thereby changing, by using ternary addition, a state of a block into any one of three states, i.e., blue state (1), red state (2) and yellow state (0). When a player A aligns five blocks in the blue or yellow state, the player A becomes a winner, whereas when a player B aligns five blocks in the red or yellow state, the player B becomes a winner.
There is still another type of disclosed puzzle game in which a player moves placement positions of panels each having a line drawn thereon, so as to complete a predetermined line drawing (e.g., Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2001-246152). For example, there is a disclosed game apparatus for a puzzle game in which a plurality of quadrate panels, on each of which lines are drawn such that two peaks and the center thereof are connected, are placed on a game field, and a player moves the placed panels, thereby completing a closed-line figure in the game field.
There is still another type of disclosed puzzle game in which: panels each having a line drawn thereon appear from a bottom edge of a game field and move upward; a player connects lines drawn on the panels so as to form lateral consecutive lines across a game field from side to side, thereby causing the panels to disappear; and when the panels do not disappear and reach an upper edge of the game field, the game ends (e.g., Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2006-75504).
However, game apparatuses disclosed in the patent publications mentioned above conventionally have problems described below. In the games of the game apparatuses disclosed in the Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publications No. 9-290041 and No. 2000-342847, a win/loss condition is to place pieces so as to form a predetermined shape, or to place blocks such that a predetermined number of consecutive blocks in a same state (color) are arranged in a predetermined direction. However, in these games, a state of connection between the pieces is not considered. In other words, regardless of the state of connection between the pieces, a player is only required to place the pieces so as to form the predetermined shape, or such that the predetermined number of blocks are arranged in a consecutive manner.
Also, in the games of the game apparatuses disclosed in the Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publications No. 2001-246152 and No. 2006-75504, a player is required to complete predetermined line drawing by moving a plurality of panels on each of which a line is drawn. These panels are provided in advance on a game field as initial setting, or randomly appear from an edge of the game field. The player is not allowed to select and place an arbitrary panel at an arbitrary position. Accordingly, the games disclosed in the Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publications No. 2001-246152 and No. 2006-75504 are not player-versus-player games which require players to play in a highly-strategic manner, but one-player puzzle games which require a player to use his/her intuition.